Word went round that there was a car show on to fit in with the Spring Bank Holiday fair on the prom. Strange thing was, no-one could find any details about it anywhere. It wasn’t the big show on the Steyne, cos that’s always in August and well publicised. In the end, I decided to just wander down and take a look. After all, it’s only a mile or so away and it was a nice day for a stroll along the Prom. Sure enough, as I was pottering along a angry-sounding Anglia went past. No humble Ford product ever sounded like that when it rolled off the line at Dagenham. This might prove a worthwhile day after all..
Well, yes. And…. no. Turns out the “event” was put on by SAD CASE (Storrington And District Classic And Sportscar Enthusiasts, in case you were wondering) and it was… well… compact. But very, very bijou. So there were only twenty or so cars ranked out beside the shingle, but then those that were there did make up for lack of quantity by the high quality on show. Including one or two genuinely astonishing cars. Shall we have a look?
Who ever would have thought there’d come a day when the humble Viva HA became a notable classic? It is a Deluxe, mind you
Difficult to miss a Pontiac Bonneville even when it’s not painted in a luminous shade of turquoise! It’s about twenty-someodd feet long after all. Closer inspection revealed it to be a Ventura so not quite as good as a Bonneville but better than a Catalina. Those mazy ‘Murican trim level options, eh?
If a Viva is a surprising classic car, the Standard Eight must be even more so. Surely there was never a more mainstream, un- …well, un-everything; shock, awe, excitement, interest.. vehicle ever made. After all, this was such a cost-conscious product at launch that not only did it have just a single windscreen wiper but no external boot opening either, to cut costs. From austere times for people to whom transport alone was enough shock and awe, it’s survivors like this that remind us why adventurous spirits had to start modifying the living curse word out of cars in the first place.
…or was that the Prefect? I never understood Ford Prefects when I was younger, and assumed they must have been something a bit amazing and superb, mainly due to the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. If the name chosen by a Betelgeusian visitor to Earth was supposed to be inconspicuous, why the hell was he called Ford Prefect? Surely it should have been Ford Escort? Or maybe Cortina? In these pre-google days, it took me a while to find out what a Ford Prefect actually was and what one looked like. Then I realised that it was just a simple mix-up owing to the time of my birth and the Prefect was an odd-looking dumpy unremarkable thing shaped a bit like a blown loaf of bread. Strange, the disappointments we create for ourselves, innit
Rover 100 was well-dressed with period paper and shillings, farthings and … all kinds of currency that makes no sense. A bit like the pound post-brexit then
There were quite a few scooters, in the mod idiom (naturally). Nice to see people in their twilight still living like it was dawn, lol
This dude didn’t seem anything to do with the event and was just out cruisin’ the strip… or whatever passes for such in Worthing… a town so blue-rinse that those shove ha’penny machines like are now made into “game” show Tipping Point are still seen as a bit risqué and louche. Anyway, any bright yellow C3 ‘Vette is worthy of commemorating!
Likewise this Pop, which was just parked up nearby. I couldn’t resist giving it a lick of nostalgia-colour as the setting just seemed so right
Alfa Duetto/Spiders are pretty in any era, even nicer for not being a “new” plastic-draped one
Although were it my choice of little two-seater I’d be leaving with the GT6, thanks
Humber Imperial. You heard. Nope, me neither. Tried very hard (and failed) to remember seeing one of these in the wild before.
MG Magnette. A Rolls for middle-management!
Sometimes it takes little events like this to make you appreciate where you live; after all, it’s always what’s on your doorstep that becomes mundane and unremarkable because you see it every day. But somehow, seeing these lovely old cars rolling along a prom normally inhabited by sweary lycra-swaddled cyclists, pottering biddies with tartan trolleys and chavs so fat their Sports Direct tracksuits have a circumference measurement rather than waist made the backdrop snap into sharp focus that’s normally obscured.
MGA surprisingly not dwarfed by ‘Murican equivalent.
Lovely ’66 C2 ‘Vette Sting Ray, complete with all the stuff you want, right down to only-slightly-functional but iconic Stinger Hood
In ’66 the 396 Turbo Jet was soon to become the power behind a gazillion SS Chevys from Dad’s Chevelle to Mom’s shopping-cart Nova to weird Uncle Jim-Bob’s Camaro
I liked this Corvette, can you tell?
Another spot randomly parked up. Couldn’t just walk past a Goddess without stopping to take a few pics. I was impressed by the natty little light diffuser inserts, presumably to adjust for LHD beams… until I saw some for sale in Halfords a few days later. There was me thinking it was some achingly cool and obscure period mod
See? If Ford Prefect had called himself Ford Cortina, he’d have been more creditable by a power of two-to-one, just based on demographics on this one day. Not only was there a natty MkII;
..but an equally natty and not-really-pretending-to-be-Lotus MkI. If anything, it was better for not being a Hethel harrier
…especially under the bonnet. Made a great noise, as you’d imagine
Begently had some presence, wafting along the promenade. Very much redolent of a better age when one was driven rather than drove. And hard to imagine it was probably built at a similar time to the Standard Eight earlier. Talk about opposite extremes!
Here’s that excellent Anglia, finally caught up with it. The engine bay was as immaculate as the outside, but I seem to have inexcusably failed to take any photos of it, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. Couldn’t decide which of these I preferred, so you can have both
Alpines (the Sunbeam flavour, not the Dieppe flavour) are a nice enough treat to see nowadays, so it’s even better to see the rare Harrington type coupe version. Looks great from some angles… slightly errrm… inbred from others, especially the roofline-rear fin interface. Still a lovely little thing, and not far from home since Harrington were primarily a coachbuilder… no, not a carrozzeria but an actual coachbuilder who bodied Plaxtons, AEC, Leyland and such… just down the road in Brighton and Hove. And you thought a Harrington was just Steve McQueen’s jacket
And so to my personal pick for car of the day. One that to the best of my memory I’ve never seen before. Quite probably never even heard of before, in fact I’m ashamed to say I had to go home and google it.
And for someone like me, who makes no secret of a healthy hatred for the modern ubiquitous car-as-both-status-symbol-and-indiscriminate-weapon Audi, it’s quite a step to admit they might have some superb cars hidden away in their history. Well, we all knew that but sometimes it’s nice to see a reminder in this day when an entire model range can only be distinguished from each other by the number of zeroes in the bottom line. Anyway, this, apparently is a 1000SP Roadster and was uncommon in its day, thus sparing my blushes through genuine rarity today. And it’s got some truly surprising styling touches going on, such as those very un-German and extravagant rear fins and bumper swoops. Great little car, and I for one am very glad that the owner spent so much time, effort and money on restoring it.
So that’s it, really. Not a bad – if rather bijou – selection of eccentricities to find on a sunny Mayday amidst the dying and faded grandeur of Empire in a gruesome seaside town. Seems to me that the SADCASE are to be commended not just on their taste and breadth in classics, but also in their quality. Thanks for looking in, and until next time, go away
Well, yes. And…. no. Turns out the “event” was put on by SAD CASE (Storrington And District Classic And Sportscar Enthusiasts, in case you were wondering) and it was… well… compact. But very, very bijou. So there were only twenty or so cars ranked out beside the shingle, but then those that were there did make up for lack of quantity by the high quality on show. Including one or two genuinely astonishing cars. Shall we have a look?
Who ever would have thought there’d come a day when the humble Viva HA became a notable classic? It is a Deluxe, mind you
Difficult to miss a Pontiac Bonneville even when it’s not painted in a luminous shade of turquoise! It’s about twenty-someodd feet long after all. Closer inspection revealed it to be a Ventura so not quite as good as a Bonneville but better than a Catalina. Those mazy ‘Murican trim level options, eh?
If a Viva is a surprising classic car, the Standard Eight must be even more so. Surely there was never a more mainstream, un- …well, un-everything; shock, awe, excitement, interest.. vehicle ever made. After all, this was such a cost-conscious product at launch that not only did it have just a single windscreen wiper but no external boot opening either, to cut costs. From austere times for people to whom transport alone was enough shock and awe, it’s survivors like this that remind us why adventurous spirits had to start modifying the living curse word out of cars in the first place.
…or was that the Prefect? I never understood Ford Prefects when I was younger, and assumed they must have been something a bit amazing and superb, mainly due to the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. If the name chosen by a Betelgeusian visitor to Earth was supposed to be inconspicuous, why the hell was he called Ford Prefect? Surely it should have been Ford Escort? Or maybe Cortina? In these pre-google days, it took me a while to find out what a Ford Prefect actually was and what one looked like. Then I realised that it was just a simple mix-up owing to the time of my birth and the Prefect was an odd-looking dumpy unremarkable thing shaped a bit like a blown loaf of bread. Strange, the disappointments we create for ourselves, innit
Rover 100 was well-dressed with period paper and shillings, farthings and … all kinds of currency that makes no sense. A bit like the pound post-brexit then
There were quite a few scooters, in the mod idiom (naturally). Nice to see people in their twilight still living like it was dawn, lol
This dude didn’t seem anything to do with the event and was just out cruisin’ the strip… or whatever passes for such in Worthing… a town so blue-rinse that those shove ha’penny machines like are now made into “game” show Tipping Point are still seen as a bit risqué and louche. Anyway, any bright yellow C3 ‘Vette is worthy of commemorating!
Likewise this Pop, which was just parked up nearby. I couldn’t resist giving it a lick of nostalgia-colour as the setting just seemed so right
Alfa Duetto/Spiders are pretty in any era, even nicer for not being a “new” plastic-draped one
Although were it my choice of little two-seater I’d be leaving with the GT6, thanks
Humber Imperial. You heard. Nope, me neither. Tried very hard (and failed) to remember seeing one of these in the wild before.
MG Magnette. A Rolls for middle-management!
Sometimes it takes little events like this to make you appreciate where you live; after all, it’s always what’s on your doorstep that becomes mundane and unremarkable because you see it every day. But somehow, seeing these lovely old cars rolling along a prom normally inhabited by sweary lycra-swaddled cyclists, pottering biddies with tartan trolleys and chavs so fat their Sports Direct tracksuits have a circumference measurement rather than waist made the backdrop snap into sharp focus that’s normally obscured.
MGA surprisingly not dwarfed by ‘Murican equivalent.
Lovely ’66 C2 ‘Vette Sting Ray, complete with all the stuff you want, right down to only-slightly-functional but iconic Stinger Hood
In ’66 the 396 Turbo Jet was soon to become the power behind a gazillion SS Chevys from Dad’s Chevelle to Mom’s shopping-cart Nova to weird Uncle Jim-Bob’s Camaro
I liked this Corvette, can you tell?
Another spot randomly parked up. Couldn’t just walk past a Goddess without stopping to take a few pics. I was impressed by the natty little light diffuser inserts, presumably to adjust for LHD beams… until I saw some for sale in Halfords a few days later. There was me thinking it was some achingly cool and obscure period mod
See? If Ford Prefect had called himself Ford Cortina, he’d have been more creditable by a power of two-to-one, just based on demographics on this one day. Not only was there a natty MkII;
..but an equally natty and not-really-pretending-to-be-Lotus MkI. If anything, it was better for not being a Hethel harrier
…especially under the bonnet. Made a great noise, as you’d imagine
Begently had some presence, wafting along the promenade. Very much redolent of a better age when one was driven rather than drove. And hard to imagine it was probably built at a similar time to the Standard Eight earlier. Talk about opposite extremes!
Here’s that excellent Anglia, finally caught up with it. The engine bay was as immaculate as the outside, but I seem to have inexcusably failed to take any photos of it, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. Couldn’t decide which of these I preferred, so you can have both
Alpines (the Sunbeam flavour, not the Dieppe flavour) are a nice enough treat to see nowadays, so it’s even better to see the rare Harrington type coupe version. Looks great from some angles… slightly errrm… inbred from others, especially the roofline-rear fin interface. Still a lovely little thing, and not far from home since Harrington were primarily a coachbuilder… no, not a carrozzeria but an actual coachbuilder who bodied Plaxtons, AEC, Leyland and such… just down the road in Brighton and Hove. And you thought a Harrington was just Steve McQueen’s jacket
And so to my personal pick for car of the day. One that to the best of my memory I’ve never seen before. Quite probably never even heard of before, in fact I’m ashamed to say I had to go home and google it.
And for someone like me, who makes no secret of a healthy hatred for the modern ubiquitous car-as-both-status-symbol-and-indiscriminate-weapon Audi, it’s quite a step to admit they might have some superb cars hidden away in their history. Well, we all knew that but sometimes it’s nice to see a reminder in this day when an entire model range can only be distinguished from each other by the number of zeroes in the bottom line. Anyway, this, apparently is a 1000SP Roadster and was uncommon in its day, thus sparing my blushes through genuine rarity today. And it’s got some truly surprising styling touches going on, such as those very un-German and extravagant rear fins and bumper swoops. Great little car, and I for one am very glad that the owner spent so much time, effort and money on restoring it.
So that’s it, really. Not a bad – if rather bijou – selection of eccentricities to find on a sunny Mayday amidst the dying and faded grandeur of Empire in a gruesome seaside town. Seems to me that the SADCASE are to be commended not just on their taste and breadth in classics, but also in their quality. Thanks for looking in, and until next time, go away
